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One of my favourite Pseudo-Legendaries in Pokémon History (Garchomp and Hydreigon are other examples, both of which were already covered in previous PoTW), Metagross, the Supercomputer Tank of Hell

Ability CompendiumClear Body: Prevents the enemy from lowering this Pokemon's stats.
Metagross's must have Ability, it prevents Intimidates coming from switch-ins and random debuffs due to many moves' special effects, though it doesn't prevent Metagross's Hammer Arm effect (it would be broken)Light Metal: The Pokemon's weight is halved.
Useless as useless can be (though two of Delibird's Abilities being the same is worse). Nobody uses Low Kick and Heat Crash and Metagross already resists Grass Knot and Heavy Slam.

Pros:
Insane Attack Stat (135) and Defence (130)
Decent defences (80/130/90)
Decent Special Attack (95), but we were going for a Physical Sweeper anyway, since DAT overwhelming Attack stat can't be wasted...
A crapload of resistances (Normal, Grass, Ice, Flying, Psychic, Rock, Dragon and Steel) and an immunity (Poison)
Resistant to Stealth Rock
Immune to Sandstorm and Toxic Spikes
Cool design, almost nobody can beat a Supercomputer Tank Spider of Hell in terms of design.

Cons
Not so decent Speed (70), but Trick Room can partially mitigate that problem
Two very common weaknesses to Fire and Ground-type moves
Its STAB coverage isn't really great, though Meteor Mash has nuclear power.
Problems with the four moveslot, it can't cover everything with only four moves.

@Iron Ball
Ability: Clear Body
Brave Nature (Atk+ Spd-)
EVs: 252 Atk, the rest should be invested in defences, NO Speed EVs and IVs
Meteor Mash
Hammer Arm
<Anything you want to cover certain threats>
<Anything you want to cover certain threats>
Important Notes: Trick Room support is a must in this set.
With some Trick Room support (Reuniclus is the first Pokémon that comes into my mind but there are better examples), an Iron Ball, 0 EVs and IVs in Speed, Metagross will be worse than Omega from the Final Fantasy series.
Meteor Mash mashes through opponents like a nuclear bomb and the occasional Attack boost means problems for the opposition unless he/she has Magnet Pull Eviolite Magneton or Magnezone in his/her team.
Hammer Arm lowers Metagross's Speed, which in Trick Room becomes a Supercomputer Sweeper of Hell and hits as hard as Omega's normal attacks.
For the other two moveslots...Earthquake hits hard as always and can complement your Doubles/Triples Trick Room strategy if you have Levitate or Flying-type Pokémon.Explosion, though it was nerfed, it still means ending the party with a "Bang!" in your opponent's face.Pursuit is extremely useful against Ghosts and Psychics, mainly if they are afraid of Metagross's mere presence.Rock Slide if added with Earthquake gets the infamous Quake Edge combo and you can even use the flinch effect to your advantage in this set.Zen Headbutt gets STAB and can flinch opponents if Metagross strikes first.Ice Punch if you hate Gliscor, Landorus (any form) and Dragon-types.Thunder Punch if you have some sort of vendetta against Gyarados (mainly if it has Moxie instead of Intimidate).Hyper Beam is just for trolling opponents (Omega has Wave Cannon in its arsenal which is similar to Hyper Beam), seriously, don't try this move...

Never mention Hyper Beam just not even when trolling it is the opposite the oponent will say "lol noob".

Why trick room? with 70- speed you are using trick room? it is outsped by most walls that way so.. metagross is by no way a trick roomer.. you have bullet punch and agility to remedy the issue.

"But what about Agility or Rock Polish? It can just buff its own Speed that way! Doant uze Icey Windz 0r Bulldose, N00B!!1!1!!1!!!11!!"

Ugh! I HATE FIGHTING PSEUDO LEGENDARIES!!!!
And he is one of them! I do love to have them on my side but not fight against them.

Why, I'm a semi casual and semi competitive player! I'm in between the two kinds of players!

Anyways, A good counter to consider is chandelure shadow tag , if facing the choice band set. If it uses Meteor mash or hammer arm, Its dead meat as chandy can prepare itself to nuke the super Iron computer.

But I winder, what makes a VGC gameplay different to the Casual battles and metagame battles?

VGC is double battles, and is highly competitive. The stratagies are different. Eg, sr and spikes are rare. Genesect is no longer a threat. Nu and ru pokemon become very good in vgc, eg, cresselia, musharna. No sleep clause, and garchomp+sand veil is good, (due to no evasion clause.) Protect and wide guard are widely used, and trick room is very common. Also,only one of each item can be used, so no team with 6 choice scarves, or so. On the same thought, choice items are rare, and only mainly on rotom. Boosting moves aren't used as often.
Overall, stratagies make this a very different style to play.

Metagross is one really used pokemon in vgc. It is immune to intimidate, which is very common in this metagame, which makes it a good hitmontop counter.
It usually carries a steel gem or a occa berry.

Counters. Air balloon magnezone cn switch in on earthquake, and trap it. Heatran is the bane. Air balloon hetran can out speed non agility metagross, and ko with fire blast.

Never mention Hyper Beam just not even when trolling it is the opposite the oponent will say "lol noob".

Why trick room? with 70- speed you are using trick room? it is outsped by most walls that way so.. metagross is by no way a trick roomer.. you have bullet punch and agility to remedy the issue.

I was just kidding about the Hyper Beam/Wave Cannon (looks like you don't know who's Omega) and I warned before about NOT using that move.
About Trick Room, I know it's not the best thing Metagross can use, but Hammer Arm says the opposite and the Trick Room+Hammer Arm combo wrecked my entire team in PWT (the Download Teams)

Why trick room? with 70- speed you are using trick room? it is outsped by most walls that way so.. metagross is by no way a trick roomer.. you have bullet punch and agility to remedy the issue.

With a Brave nature and 0 speed IVs it speed ties with Hippowdon (who beats it anyway) and in Trick Room it only fails to outrun Conkeldurr, Forretress, Reuniclus, Gastrodon, and Ferrothorn. If it uses Hammer Arm, the only thing that outruns it in Trick Room is Ferrothorn. There is nothing wrong with TR Metagross. Its like Agility Metagross but it can run a +Attack nature and is a bit more bulky / supports the team.

This set takes advantage of trick room to be a speedy and bulky sweeper. It's only source of recovery (besides rest) is wonder launchers, though. You can sacrifice psychic stab with iron defence, but its steel stab is its strongest move. 3rd slot is coverage, and finally, when all else fails, use SR.

Metagross is awesome, although power creep has made it much lower in OU ranks than it was before. In 3rd gen OU it was arguably the best physical attacker together with Tyranitar, Salamence, and Heracross. It's amazing physical bulk, combined with a boatload of resistances and special sweepers still lacking Nasty Plot and Choice Specs made it an incredible force. Whilst even in 3rd gen it lacked super effective coverage, Meteor Mash + EQ + Rock Slide provided 100% neutral coverage and hit hard enough, and Salamence and Tyranitar also didn't have the STAB moves they have today. Since then, Heracross dropped to UU, and TTar and Mence both got great improvements since 3rd gen (like Stone Edge, physical Crunch, and Sandstorm boost for TTar and Outrage, Roost, physical Dragon Claw, and Draco Meteor for Mence), whilst Metagross stayed behind.

Metagross did get some treats. The elemental punches are useful, Pursuit getting physical is useful, Hone Claws and Bullet Punch are good new move options, but Metagross didn't get something nearly as defining as Mence or TTar received. Getting a worthless Dream World ability was just an extra troll. Even at half weight Metagross is still so heavy that it takes Grass Knot and Low Kick at 120 BP, so Light Metal doesn't do anything at all. Always run Clear Body to block Intimidates and random stat drops from stuff like Psychic and Crunch. Especially Intimidate blocking is amazing. Pokémon like Salamence and Gyarados rely on Intimidate to take care of a significant portion of their physical bulk, and Clear Body makes it much harder for them to switch in safely.

Never mention Hyper Beam just not even when trolling it is the opposite the oponent will say "lol noob".

Why trick room? with 70- speed you are using trick room? it is outsped by most walls that way so.. metagross is by no way a trick roomer.. you have bullet punch and agility to remedy the issue.

You could use agility or bullet punch, but, it can invest more into bulk, and then outspeed most of the metagame under TR. Garchomp, heatran, terrakion, scarfers, ect. Basically, it is a destructive force in TR.

Love Metragross

Metagross, Always a staple on my team. It has a nice amount of resistances and a more than decent attack and defense and MOvepool. Only problem it has is with's speed, however it get's rock polish so that's not much of a problem.

My favorite Metagross set is the following

Metagross
Adamant
252/252/4 in attk/spd/hp
@Clear body

Iron Head/MeteorMash
Earthquake
Ice Punch
Thunderpunch

Leftovers/life orb

The way I play this is having someone like ninjask or gliscor BP him a speed boost, after that he just goes around murdering teams. Though he can be very good without the passed boost, the speed will hinder him in surviving hits

Ice punch/Thunderpunch is rarely if EVER seen, so its a good surprise for the Hippowdow or Skarmoury who comes in thinking they get a free round of setting up. Gyarados may think it can counter a Metagross will find itself on the wrong end of a thunderpunch that will for the most part kill it.

The decision between Iron Head and Meteormash is a though one. Meteormash may give you the attack boost but it has iffy accuracy. Ironhead is reliable damage and can give you an awesome flinch that may win you the game... but if you're slower then it won't do anything. Personally, I go with ironhead.

Earthquake is for staple damage, especially for those non-balloon Heatran.

Finally got a attack boosting move this Gen(outside of Meteor Mash) its pretty gimmicky with Dynamic Punch but I think it could work but I never tried it before but it seems good in concept. Hone Claws for +1 attack and accuracy helping with Meteor Mash and Dynamic Punch. Last option Im not too sure. Thunder Punch looks like the best option otherwise your walled by Gyrados and Jellycent Pursuit could work nice since they might switch after they get confused by Dynamic Punch. Bullet Punch is for priority, EQ for just a strong move but I dont think its a good idea since Fighting can take its place, and Ice Punch if you really hate dragons.

Metagross just isn't quite what he used to be, sadly. He's still a decent Pokemon of course, but he's definitely declined. One of the main reasons for this is just the fact that his offensive STABs are just really sub-par and don't offer much in the way of neutral or super effective coverage. This wasn't such a problem last generation when he could make up for it with his montrous Atk stat, but now a base 135 Atk stat just isn't what it used to be.

I've found that the best two sets Metagross can use are the Choice Band set and a specially defensive tank set. Even with less-than-ideal STABs, Metagross still hits really hard with Meteor Mash. Hammer Arm also gives him a lot of extra coverage, letting him beat Pokemon like Ferrothorn and Skarmory (factoring in the speed drops), which would normally laugh at him. He's got a few other neat options besides that. Bullet Punch is always a nice move to have around due to its increased priority, letting you pick off weakened Pokemon like Salamence and Latios, and even a not-so-weakened Terrakion. Pursuit is great for when you get a chance to force out something like Alakazam or Reuniclus, punishing them on the switch. Although Psychic isn't the best typing, Zen Headbutt is pretty much your only shot at getting in some serious damage on some things like Volcarona and Tentacruel, and it even hits Steel resists like Rotom-W and Jellicent hard as well. Thunderpunch is also a nice move for the bulky Water types that can take on Meteor Mash with ease, especially Jellicent and Gyarados, which have little to fear from Hammer Arm as well.

The specially defensive support set gained a slightly larger niche ever since Tornadus-T was released, since it takes crap from Tornadus-T and can threaten it back with Meteor Mash. It's also a pretty reliable Stealth Rock user and, due to its great typing and bulk, can set it up multiple times in one game. The extra bulk can also be even more useful for Pursuit trapping frailer Psychic types like Alakazam and Latios. For example, while Life Orb Alakazam always 2HKOs CB Metagross with Focus Blast, it fails to 2HKO the specially defensive support set.

As far as the other sets, I haven't seen much of a niche for them anymore. AgiliGross just doesn't have quite enough power to sweep through teams, especially with it sub-par STABs. You're almost forced to run a Jolly nature since otherwise you'd lose to everything from Scarf Genesect to Scarf Terrakion/Keldeo, and that takes off a bit of power. It actually does pretty well against some of the purely offensive teams that carry a lot of Pokemon like Keldeo, Terrakion, Mamoswine, and Heatran, but there are too many Pokemon like Jellicent and Ferrothorn that could care less what AgiliGross does. As for the mixed set...well, I'm not sure what that set really does that the others can't do, besides 2HKO Slowbro and Hippowdon with Grass Knot.

It's too bad that Metagross can't learn Trick Room. That would actually be a neat addition to his movepool, and after firing off a Hammer Arm, there's not much that would still "outspeed" him. In fact, I think it would have been great if Game Freak had just taken off some of his speed and distributed it among his HP and SDef stats, which would have made him even better under Trick Room and would have made Gyro Ball a worthwhile option, not to mention increasing his bulk. If they followed the same pattern with his previous forms, this would mean Metang would be even bulkier and also have a more powerful Gyro Ball, which would greatly lessen his shortcomings in NU. But that's just me.

Speaking of Metang, if you're going to use it, use a bulky Eviolite support set. Metang has no business running any sort of offensive set like its older brother, but a support set is actually okay. A physically defensive spread has the advantage of manhandling Zangoose and Cinccino since it takes crap damage from their attacks and can actually beat Zangoose pretty easily most of the time factoring in the Close Combat Def drops and Zangoose's natural Toxic "timer". A specially defensive set beats the aforementioned threats, albiet a bit less effectively, while also having an easier time checking Pokemon like Kadabra and Haunter. Be warned, though, as although Metang makes a great switch-in to Braviary variants like LO + Roost and Choice sets, SubBU Braviary sets up on it and 3HKOs at +6, unless you're running Psych Up or something.

As for Beldum...well, I'm no LC expert, but something's telling me that a Pokemon with a total of 4 usable moves and no other notable assets isn't going to fly in the LC metagame.

Needs + nature and Life Orb to do anything useful. HP Fire NEEDS the power boost to really hurt the floating / non-ground weak Steels. Don't run Quiet, a few speed EVs are important to outrun Skarmory. Psychic hits what... Tentacruel? Maybe just run Grass Knot to **** with Jellicent, Hippowdon, Starmie, Donphan, Cloyster, etc.

Otherwise though yeah, mixed Metagross is usable. Its biggest problem though is its inability to do anything at all to rain teams.

Last edited by sbktdreed; 1st December 2012 at 7:48 AM.
Reason: From a recent reply.

Got Pokémon X. Intend to get either Omega Ruby or Alpha Sapphire.
No info about my Friend Safari.
Vivillon Pattern: Polar
Looking for nicknamed, shiny, and/or have a hidden ability in GTS and may battle at anytime.
If interested, send a private message with your ID #.

Pretty gimmick and fun set, but the point with this set is to be bulky and catch stats booster and hit hard when the time is right for it.
(Works really well when your opponent has done some defence boosts)
Swagger to trigger the Swagger+psych up combo and then either Meteor Mash after or EQ for those fire types, although it will have trouble with flying types.
The first moves are rather filler and dependable of what you need for your team, if you need stall, go for rest. If you want your opponent crippeld go for toxic.
Iron defence to backup if you swagger if an attack pok receives it, which makes him forced to be switched.
You can also chose for Psychic if your hoping on Psych upping some Nasty plotters or Quiver dancers.

Unfortunately, even with Metang's low speed, he's still too fast to use Gyro Ball effectively. Even with an absolute minimum speed stat, you'd have to be facing an opponent with the speed of a Timid Zebstrika just to match the power of Meteor Mash. Of course, it would be much more worth it if you were using an Iron Ball (which would be pretty cool with Trick), but the loss of the Eviolite just isn't worth it.

Metagross should never ever run Psyshock. Metagross' attack stat is so much higher than its Sp.Atk stat, so Zen Heatbutt will hit harder at anything. Brick Break is also not too good compared to Hammer Arm. HA simply hits harder, and you want as much power to destroy that Heatran on the switch in before it can Fire Blast you into oblivion, and the speed drop doesn't matter anyway against Ferrothorn. Rock Slide has lost a bit of shine since Metagross got Thunderpunch to hit Gyarados with, although I guess its good to surprise Volcarona when it switches in, or when Volcarona guesses on you fleeing to Quiver Dance on your switch. It just has such low base power and apart from Gyarados, Zapdos, and Volcarona it doesn't really hit anything else, it's too bad that Meta doesn't get Stone Edge.

Unfortunately, even with Metang's low speed, he's still too fast to use Gyro Ball effectively. Even with an absolute minimum speed stat, you'd have to be facing an opponent with the speed of a Timid Zebstrika just to match the power of Meteor Mash. Of course, it would be much more worth it if you were using an Iron Ball (which would be pretty cool with Trick), but the loss of the Eviolite just isn't worth it.

Yeah your right, I changed it to Meteor mash. But well its an fun set to use, not recommandable or something, evio metang is not as good as other eviolite pokemon like porygon2.

The idea of this set is to he bulky enough and to hit anything coming your way with hammer arm except that that resists it, then use gyro ball when at -4, -5, or -6 speed to get max damage, or go with bullet punch if you think you'll need it, meteor mash for stab mainly if not running gyro ball, ice punch kills grounds, Earthquake slams other metagross if you are slower in Trick Room or faster outside it, Thunder Punch is there for the ever lasting annoying gyarados pretty much set up trick room before you set up your - speed, then just wail on everyone

LOOKING FOR A LIST OF ALL 3000+ MEW XD MOVE TUTOR COMBINATIONS. Please PM if you have one

I tired making a Bulky Offense NU team based off my Bulky Offense OU team just for the heck of it before, and I used a Metang with Rest/Sleep Talk/MeteorMash/Hone Claws.

Is that viable at all? Or did it work just because I was so new at NU?

You can succeed with literal garbage in NU (evidenced by Garbodor). I laddered to #1 on the ladder with 6 ice types, a stall team, and a Baton Pass chain. In the right situation that Metang probably would work, but without Leftovers your opponent only has to do 34% per hit to overpower Rest. Factor in crits and a crappy offensive typing off only 75 base attack (probably uninvested) and you're looking at a bad Pokemon.

huh? most pseudo legendaries are easy to take down if you play well... llike aiming for metagross weaker sp.defense.

I'm not referring to the gameplay of the metagame as to hate them. What I hate is their social reputation to the Competitive Pokemon trainer Community. Dragon like pokemon, Terrakion, Heatran, Scizor,and weather summoning pokes are the kinds I despise due to their high social status. I see them as too Over rated in OU. These guys status are about being too burly manly and no wimpy attitude.
Jirachi and Celebi are exceptions though since I find them more about cute badass type of social status.

Though, If I were to use my Celebi and Jirachi against Metagross, I'll go with 2 ways.

Abuse Earth Power / Hidden Power fire or do Paralysis and Iron Head flinching / carry Fire Punch (Be honest with me. You despise Jirachi if it Parahaxes you in battle and you weren't able to take her down and your counter to her is gone.)

Anyways, If Meta has to face the Tamarraw (terrakion) one on one, what would beat each other down? Cause both of them are quite par